By TANIA PHILLIPS
A GROUP of angry land owners have vowed to fight against the planned “route five” proposal for the new 110kV volt powerline from Warwick to Stanthorpe.
Up to 30 land owners met with Ergon Energy project manager Rodney Lobwein on Tuesday to present their views.
The land owners from the Warwick end of the proposed route said there had been a failure to consult with those directly affected by the proposed line and questioned Ergon Energy’s tactics and processes.
A parent of potentially affected residents Gerard Berren-Keogh said some people had only discovered their homes were in the path of the proposed poweline after reading it in the paper.
“Ergon haven’t followed the democratic process,” he said.
“The Community Reference Group (CRG) was fundamentally flawed.
“The whole process has been flawed and that means the information will be flawed.”
However, Ergon Energy Corporate Communications manager Rod Rehbein said the company supported the formation of a community reference group to allow people living in the Southern Downs to contribute to a decision of the future powerline route between the Warwick and Stanthorpe substations.
The infrastructure was required to provide long-term security of supply for the Stanthorpe region, he said.
Mr Rehbein said after lengthy anaylsis of the need for a second 110kV powerline and an evaluation of potential line-routes, the CRG last year recommended that Ergon Energy adopt Route five.
“Following this recommendation Ergon Energy conducted a survey of the two-kilometre wide corridor to identify any constraints such as waterways and environmentally sensitive areas that might restrict where the line could be built,” Mr Rehbein said.
“Ergon Energy is now consulting property owners along this corridor to seek their feedback about the placement of the line within the corridor and also any constraints they can identify.
“Ergon Energy remains committed to this process for identifying a preferred line route which will then be subject to an application for ministerial designation for community infrastructure.”
However Tony Maw, one of the 13 original members of the CRG and one of the potentially affected farmers, said there had only been seven members left on the CRG at the time of the decision and none from Route Five.
He said 74 farmers in the affected area had met at the Massie Hall on Monday night and had vowed to fight the proposed line.
Mr Maw said he disagreed that Route Five was the most suitable way forward and would like to see the routes explored further.
